US retailers push $20 Ubuntu

Canonical has begun selling Ubuntu, its free, open source, Linux-based distribution, through Best Buy and Amazon for around $20 a pop, reports The Register.

Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04, which has been packaged by ValuSoft, is being sold online at Amazon.com and Bestbuy.com, and through Best Buy's retail stores.

Customers happy to be $19.99 lighter of pocket will be handed a boxed-up version of "Ubuntu Linux". The bundled package includes printed documentation and 60 days of unlimited support.

Royal Mail is finalising contracts with a range of suppliers for the provision of handheld devices to track letter and parcel information, says Computing.co.uk.

More than 25 000 staff handling items tracked by special and recorded delivery will eventually use the devices, which are intended to speed up and modernise postal processes.

The devices will enable Royal Mail van drivers to capture signatures at the point of delivery. The data will then be transmitted over a wireless network, allowing customers to check via the Web whether the items have arrived at their destination.

Verizon Wireless will pay $21 million to settle a lawsuit filed by customers who claim the company's early termination fees are excessive and unfair, says CNet.

Details of the settlement aren't public, but a Verizon spokesman said the settlement would put to rest claims filed by customers in California as well as clients that are part of a nationwide class action lawsuit.

Verizon denied any wrongdoing. And the spokesman pointed out that Verizon Wireless was the first cellphone operator in the US to establish a pro-rated early termination fee that decreases over the time of the contract. Since then, the other three carriers, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, have all pledged to go to prorated fees.

Memory-chip designer Rambus, riding high from three major legal wins in recent months, has sued Nvidia, alleging patent infringement, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, accused several Nvidia products with memory controllers of infringing 17 Rambus patents. The products include chipsets, graphics processors, media communication processors and multimedia applications processors.

Rambus is seeking orders barring the infringement as well as money damages. Nvidia specialises in graphics processing units - powerful plug-in chips used for tasks requiring sharp images and visual effects.